Cracing the Laugauge Barrier?

[richard m schwab]

Being from the Western side of the pond and the in Northern Hemisphere. English is still the most common language in the lower 48 states. Also most places north of here. I recently placed an order to Kallistra Ltd of Mansfield NOTTS. The order was for some of their British Early War WW1 figures. I received notification that they had been dispatched. Would this mean my order has been sent or has it been executed? Just a question translating a common language?


Rich


www.kallistra.co.uk

[gully_raker]

Being from the Western side of the pond and the in Northern Hemisphere. English is still the most common language in the lower 48 states. Also most places north of here. I recently placed an order to Kallistra Ltd of Mansfield NOTTS. The order was for some of their British Early War WW1 figures. I received notification that they had been dispatched. Would this mean my order has been sent or has it been executed? Just a question translating a common language?


Rich


www.kallistra.co.uk

No "dispatched" definitely means "In the Post"!
Now "Topped" would have meant "Deaded"!

[richard m schwab]

Barry


Thank you for the translation! I had suspected as much, conformation is always appreciated!


Rich

[Archidamus]

No "dispatched" definitely means "In the Post"!
Now "Topped" would have meant "Deaded"!

The question is......was the order dispatched with dispatch? (trans: posted quickly)

[milcoll73]

The question is......was the order dispatched with dispatch? (trans: posted quickly)

if not someone will surely receive field punishment no1................with dispatch.............

[richard m schwab]

Brian

With dispatch, in the dispatches as long as does not come over aboard the Mayflower. How is the Royal Mail Service these days. Hope fully better than their cousins over here!
Have you seen any of these figures? They look nice in the photos.




Rich

[richard m schwab]

Phillip


I have four weeks until Biplanes and Triplanes to get some of them painted up. Or i will be the on the punishment detail!



Rich

[Archidamus]

Brian

With dispatch, in the dispatches as long as does not come over aboard the Mayflower. How is the Royal Mail Service these days. Hope fully better than their cousins over here!
Have you seen any of these figures? They look nice in the photos.

Rich

Rich,

We don't call them Parcel Farce for nothing - although, to be honest, I find them to be fairly prompt and efficient except when it comes to dealing with the actual delivery (especially if the recipient is out, or the item carries some sort of charge - as in imports) which won't apply in your case. Here's hoping you get the package asap.

Don't have any Kallistra models, but the ones I have seen have been pretty impressive.

Brian

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I am starting to think that Parcel Farce are often made to look even worse by HM. Customs and Excise, who seem to be able to sit on parcels for a week before sending them on.
Rob.

[richard m schwab]

Brian

There must be an international postal employe school then. Where only the bottom third qualify for employment! The sample figures do look nice! Time will tell on delivery!



Rich

[richard m schwab]

Rob

A quick story on my last magnet order. I use 3/8 inch flat magnet on each fighter to connect to the flight pegs. The pegs also have the same magnet. Three years ago i purchased 350 of these, . I ran out and needed to order more. My last order was from Canada and had price of 100 for $5.00. I checked the same source the price was now 100 for $20.00. I went on E Bay and found 300 for $24.00 including shipping. The seller was in Hong Kong. It took two days to ship. One day to travel from H.K. to US customs at JFK. One day to travel from JFK to a New Jersey postal center. One day to be sent out. The next day it was in Miami? It traveled right over here to accomplish that.!!! Three days later it arrived!!! No one at the USPS found anything wrong. They blamed customs. I told them anyone who touched that package between JFK and Miami should be fired!!! But i am a nice guy!

I told them the tracking record told the whole story. When they looked it up, they stopped talking. After three months i am still waiting for a requested postal inspection report! Maybe it got lost in the mail!!!!!

Rich

[Archidamus]

There must be an international postal employe school then. Where only the bottom third qualify for employment!

Bottom third!........bottom third??????..........I have difficulty believing they recruit from that high up the incompetence curve - now bottom 10% I'll grudgingly accept

[Naharaht]

Rob, H.M. Revenue and Customs may have sent your parcel on without telling you. That happened with my last one. It was waiting at the local Parcel Force depot for me to pay the charges.

[richard m schwab]

Brian


This school has high standards! You first have must find, correctly fill out, file and then pass the exhaustive local civil service test. That or have a relative working there already! This process of course weans out most qualified applicants. Now it`s class time. Lectures on decorum and costumer service train the students on how to avoid or ignore any complaints. The curriculum includes 20 hours of class room and individual instruction on getting ahead in any bureaucracy. Not a minute is wasted on map reading or deliver route theory. After 200 hours of intense study and a great pre final party is thrown ! The final. It is all down to this brain bruising test. Each student is given a sealed envelope. At which time the examiners leave the room. In side is a short instruction note. Ensure this stamped addressed envelope gets to it`s addressed party! Then return home! Top marks go to any student who simply drops this in the nearest mail box. Nearly 70% of any class will do just that! The remainder of the class has not read or could not understand the simple instructions, they sit in the examining room waiting for the examiners return. The head of the school will eventually come in ask for all the packets back. He opens and hands each student the enclosed letter back. Yes they have actually received a letter addressed to themselves. In the letter they are informed that they are to report to their new jobs as letter carriers. The other 70% of course will never receive the letter, they mailed it to themselves. In time they will receive a handsome diploma suitable for framing. They will show this to friends and family and remember the good old days at Mail Man U!

Rich


P.S. Thank you Douglas Addams

[milcoll73]

Phillip


I have four weeks until Biplanes and Triplanes to get some of them painted up. Or i will be the on the punishment detail!


id suggest drinking lots of coffee and recruiting (or kidnapping) some of clippers elves !!!


Rich

[milcoll73]

Brian


This school has high standards! You first have must find, correctly fill out, file and then pass the exhaustive local civil service test. That or have a relative working there already! This process of course weans out most qualified applicants. Now it`s class time. Lectures on decorum and costumer service train the students on how to avoid or ignore any complaints. The curriculum includes 20 hours of class room and individual instruction on getting ahead in any bureaucracy. Not a minute is wasted on map reading or deliver route theory. After 200 hours of intense study and a great pre final party is thrown ! The final. It is all down to this brain bruising test. Each student is given a sealed envelope. At which time the examiners leave the room. In side is a short instruction note. Ensure this stamped addressed envelope gets to it`s addressed party! Then return home! Top marks go to any student who simply drops this in the nearest mail box. Nearly 70% of any class will do just that! The remainder of the class has not read or could not understand the simple instructions, they sit in the examining room waiting for the examiners return. The head of the school will eventually come in ask for all the packets back. He opens and hands each student the enclosed letter back. Yes they have actually received a letter addressed to themselves. In the letter they are informed that they are to report to their new jobs as letter carriers. The other 70% of course will never receive the letter, they mailed it to themselves. In time they will receive a handsome diploma suitable for framing. They will show this to friends and family and remember the good old days at Mail Man U!

Rich


P.S. Thank you Douglas Addams

theres a reason we call it the united states postal DISservice.............

[David Manley]

Rob, H.M. Revenue and Customs may have sent your parcel on without telling you. That happened with my last one. It was waiting at the local Parcel Force depot for me to pay the charges.

FWIW on those rare occasions when HMRC has decided to bother with asking for money to keep the country going (I reckon only about 25% of the time) it has been Parcel Force that has written to me to tell me there is a parcel waiting for me that needs paying for. I don't think HMRC have a remit to do so. Actually the last time it happened I knew before the PF letter arrived as I'd been keeping an eye on the parcel's progress via its tracking number; saw it was at the local distribution centre, stopped off on my way back from work to collect it, got it a few days early

[flash]

I'll raise a beer to the Posties without whom I would not have a collection at all
I wonder how many are within our ranks...?

[Archidamus]

I'll raise a beer to the Posties without whom I would not have a collection at all
I wonder how many are within our ranks...?

I'll join you Dave - joking aside (and the above was joking) I have always received my packages and letters (remember them - those things that don't come electronically) in a timely manner.

As with others here in the UK, I find the real issue is the interface between HM Customs and the Post when dealing with international packages that attract charges - and the fact (probably annoying to the local staff as well as myself) that the local depot was closed a couple of years ago, and the one in Tonbridge is a nightmare to get to during busy periods - so a missed delivery is a bit more inconvenient than it used to be.

[richard m schwab]

David

You should be getting a discount for saving HM government the expense of delivery?

Now i know why Kallistra offers a pick up service for UK orders. Place an order pick it up at a show or convention. Being a colonial cousin our shipping and handling normally covers mailing charges when the USPS handles it. You have an additional charge for in country mail in the UK? Or only on international orders?


Rich

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Only mail from outside the E.U. has Import Duty charged by HM.Revenue and Customs plus VAT. Then they pass it on to Royal Mail who collect it for them and add a handling charge. It usually works out all told with postage that we pay in £ for an item, what we could get it for in $ if we came to the States to buy it.
Rob.

[richard m schwab]

Rob

I assume you mean the Air Fare to come over here and buy it! Equals the the EU protection tax! I have looked at the Hex terrain that Kallistra sells. A flocked box is £74.95, to ship one box over here is £30. It is only £60 to ship 4 boxes?


Rich

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Rob

I assume you mean the Air Fare to come over here and buy it! Equals the the EU protection tax!
Rich

You may be not so far out at that Rich,with the cheap air fares. I actually meant what it costs you in $ by the time it is shipped here and taxed it costs me the equivalence in £.
Rob.

[richard m schwab]

Rob

I have a co worker from from Northern England, he explained the customs and the other charges. I guess you do not buy your gin over here! He implied they really hit that with duties. He told me he mailed a package through the USPS Friday, the predict an delivery in England tomorrow. Based on the tracking information. Over here i get UPS and FedEx deliveries. Are they sent through your customs control also?


Rich

[prymus]

I must admit to having never had a problem with USPS, and no, I'm not an employee. And I have received several packages from Hong Kong and China and have always had outstanding fast service. Got some aircraft off an EBAY seller in Japan and had them in hand 4 days later with free shipping. Now Fed-Ex has been another story, delivering a $400 brass HO locomotive to a neighbor 10 houses up the street with a number nowhere close to mine. Luckily the neighbors know me and brought the package down. UPS also must make it mandatory to stomp on, beat with a bat, and throw their packages around before delivery. My USPS service has always outshined the competition. It may help that I tip my postal carrier every year around Christmas.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Rob

Over here I get UPS and FedEx deliveries. Are they sent through your customs control also?
Rich

As far as I know everything over £10 in value is checked by Customs and Excise Rich.
We like to use U.P.S. whenever we can, but some firms don't use it.
Rob.

[milcoll73]

I must admit to having never had a problem with USPS, and no, I'm not an employee. And I have received several packages from Hong Kong and China and have always had outstanding fast service. Got some aircraft off an EBAY seller in Japan and had them in hand 4 days later with free shipping. Now Fed-Ex has been another story, delivering a $400 brass HO locomotive to a neighbor 10 houses up the street with a number nowhere close to mine. Luckily the neighbors know me and brought the package down. UPS also must make it mandatory to stomp on, beat with a bat, and throw their packages around before delivery. My USPS service has always outshined the competition. It may help that I tip my postal carrier every year around Christmas.

im not a fan of ups either. once had to chase a truck down to get a package they were going to send back because they "attempted" delivery three times already. the kicker. one of these times i was home sitting 20 ft from the door. they never bothered to knock.

[richard m schwab]

My order is now six days in the hands of Royal Mail and not peep or has it arrived! I am old i recall a day when every UPS package required a signature, they were professionals. Today my UPS arrivals are always in the evening around 5:30. They normally will drop it my the door without a peep. From a camera battery to a TV they droop and run! Unless it is a signed package, then it arrives at 10:00am when no ones home!!!!!


Rich

[Naharaht]

Rich, if you have a tracking number, you can go to the Royal Mail or Parcel Force website, type it in and see what it says.

[richard m schwab]

David

I emailed them about a tracking order Saturday and have had no reply back to date?


Rich

[Doug]

In Australia the mail service is talking about cut down the number of days mail is delivered from 5 to 3 days a week because of decline in usage of postal sevice. Mind you on a bad day it takes 3 hours to drive from Toowoomba to Brisbane. It take the post 3 days to get a letter from Toowoomba to Brisbane. I will leave it at that

[richard m schwab]

Alastair

There is a lot of that going around. They closed the Norfolk Va bulk mailing center. That mean a letter mailed to the house next door now goes to Richmond , a two hour drive then processed and sent back here. That takes two days during the week and three or four over a weekend. Some how these cuts never impact the micro managers that come up with these Brain Farts!

Rich

[Naharaht]

Rich, have you been to this webpage?
https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-item

[richard m schwab]

David

I had an email from them today. It seems they did not get a tracing number on the package? I am composing a letter of appreciation for that over site this minute! I am not a happy camper. They finally responded to my second email on the subject! After seven days it has not arrived.



Rich